


Perpetual

by MayaShea



Category: BioShock Infinite
Genre: Drabble, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 04:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/948720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaShea/pseuds/MayaShea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For what felt like no more than a moment, it was dark, and they felt as if they had fallen into some sort of eternal void of emptiness. There were no emotions, no words, no thoughts. It was silent. It was lifeless. Until it wasn't, and life found its way back to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perpetual

_"Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time."_

_~ C.S. Lewis_

_  
_On the day that Robert Lutece crossed into a universe that was not his own, the two had felt they accomplished the impossible. Though, of course, it was not impossible, and never had been, or it would not have happened. Some would call it a miracle, but that also wasn't the correct word for it. It was science, the result of various tests, hypotheses, dreams, whispers, and actions. Science had granted them the opportunity to be there, together, facing each other in the same universe at the same point in time.

So they were thankful to science, for nothing could describe what they felt in that very moment when he emerged from the tear. It was some mixture of happiness, frightfulness, astonishment, and disbelief, to name a few. They stood, staring at each other in complete silence, unsure of what exactly to say to the other, for what seemed like hours. Until, finally, they exchanged an embrace, one that had not been possible to exchange until that day. And though they had only just met for the first time, it felt as if they had known each other their whole lives. Perhaps, because they  _were_ each other, or perhaps because they communicated through the tear on a regular basis before. 

Regardless, it was a bond that could not be broken. A strange type of friendship that both had dreamed about for far too long. From that day forward, they were attached at the hip. One was rarely seen without the other, and they preferred to keep it that way, if they could. If Rosalind was perplexed by an equation, Robert would swoop in, and the two would solve it together. If Robert ordered coffee at a cafe, Rosalind would, as well. It was something that came naturally to them, being similar, and yet, at the same time, being different. They were two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together.

Some days, they paid close attention to each other, learning all the little details that seperated them as humans. Rosalind's hair was naturally wavier than Robert's, he noticed. She occassionaly woke in the morning to a tangled heap of long, ginger strands because of it, and he found it fascinating. He often found himself disappointed when she pinned it to the top of her head, as it was just as mesmerizing when it fell on her shoulders, or when a few strands stuck out of the typically perfect shape. Rosalind, on the other hand, observed that Robert had less freckles on his back than she did. Every once in a while, she would pretend to still be sleeping when he woke up and dressed himself, just to catch a glance at him as he unbuttoned his shirt, curious as to what was underneath. 

It turned into a game of cat and mouse, the way they would try to look into the windows that offered a peak at their most vulnerable sides. Both eventually caught on to the game, and instead were open about it, asking questions of what their lives prior to their meeting had been like. There were subtle differences, sure, but they both ended up where they were in the end. It got them thinking; are one's choices in life truly the deciding factors of their fate, or is their fate assigned to them upon their entrance to life, no matter how they choose to live it?

After a while, they found themselves asking the same question so many times that its meaning became less important. It was replaced by another; If you refuse to acknowledge something, does it go away? Maybe, they thought, it didn't really matter if they shared the same destiny or not. Maybe, if they focused simply on surrounding themselves with things they enjoyed and living life to the fullest, their destinies would eventually become clear. 

What they hadn't hypothesized, though, was the possibly that death was always lingering, waiting to strike. Of all their theories and questions, they had forgotten to include one: what if death comes for you before your time? 

Of course, the one question they hadn't asked turned out to be the most important. For death slithered its way through the Luteces' front door one evening, in the form of a man wearing a suit and top hat. It caught them off guard, as it disguised itself as a face the two had seen many times before. A face that seemed suspicious, but not murderous. And, using this to its advantage, death sabotaged the machine they used to create tears. It shook their hands, its touch fatal, and left them on the ground, unresponsive, laying side by side. It added the final touch of making it all look as if it were an accident, as death sometimes does. 

With this, the job was done. Jeremiah Fink, death himself, wiped his hands clean of evidence and reported back to his employer. Rosalind and Robert Lutece were declared dead on a cold day in October, 1909. For what felt like no more than a moment, it was dark, and they felt as if they had fallen into some sort of eternal void of emptiness. There were no emotions, no words, no thoughts. It was silent. It was lifeless. 

Until it wasn't, and life found its way back to them. 

They awoke, simultaneously, buried six feet under dirt in elaborate, expensive coffins. At first there was panic, fear, worry, that nobody would find them here, buried alive. Not a minute later, though, they were above ground, staring at two headstones which read "Lutece". It was at this time that they realized they had not been buried alive, they had been buried for good reason. Also at this time, they recognized the fact that they had somehow managed to teleport themselves out of their graves, and almost immediately after, their minds were once again buzzing with explanations for such an occurance. They had died, yes, but had they really  _died?_ Evidently not, or they would not be standing next to each other, swapping theories on what had just happened to them. 

They came to an agreement, right then and there, that perhaps  _this_ had been their destiny all along. Death came for everyone, yet not in the way it had come for them. Maybe they had been destined to stay together from the start. Or, maybe,  _just maybe_ , they had cheated destiny, and found something else, instead. Something they weren't meant to find. A loophole in the contract of life. 

Death had failed in forcing them to part, and perhaps someday it, or something in its place, would succeed. But, for now, they were perpetual. Brought together by hope, and bound by determination. 

And they wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
